The Devil Wears Wellness - My New Indie Chicks Article is out now!

Do you feel like Anne Hathaway in the Devil Wears Prada, where everyone is organized and beautiful, and you’re feeling, well, NOT? Well, I’ve got tips for you to have more “Paris Fashion Week” moments and less “Bed-head, wrinkled shirt, crazed” moments in the morning-all in the article below!

The Devil Wears Wellness

by Angela Martindale

It’s 6 A.M. and you’ve over slept! You hit your alarm, race out of bed, b-line for the closest, pull a shirt off a hanger that is less wrinkled than the shirt on your floor, shimmy into the same skirt that you wore two days ago, (reasoning with yourself that it’s still clean because you “didn’t really go anywhere in it”). You grab the pair of heels you bought at TJ Maxx two weeks ago (with the price tag sticker still in the left shoe), throw your hair up in a top knot, grab a piece of toast and your laptop, and rush out the door for the Uber. Standing there, you notice that the girl next to you looks like she stepped out of VOGUE. As you see your reflection in the window of the car pulling up, you feel like Anne Hathaway in the opening scene of The Devil Wears Prada.

In the car, while envying the VOGUE-like model sitting next you, you see a sign for a gym and think, “Who has time for the gym? I don’t even have time to look through my closet for an unwrinkled shirt?” Closing your eyes for 2 minutes, you picture yourself living an energetic, organized, healthy life and sigh! The car stops, you get out and rush to your tiny cubicle to accomplish dreams of climbing the corporate ladder, inventing the next crazy tech app, or becoming your own boss of everything and making millions of dollars one day!

If this movie scenario was your reality this morning, then welcome to big city living! As a nutritionist and wellness coach, I tell my busy city clients, “To live a quality life we have to be organized“. Being organized inspires healthy minds and bodies, and creates successful work/life balance. How do we do it? Like Meryl Streep in our The Devil Wears Prada scenario, self awareness, hard work and envisioning the vision can make it happen (even without an assistant).

Goal Setting

Are you rolling your eyes at another suggestion of goal setting? Stop it. Trust me-no matter how much you fight it, “envisioning your vision” is a proven method of sorting through what you want, don’t want and need to do, to achieve the lifestyle you desire.

Carve out some time for yourself on a weekend or after work. Pull out your journal or pad of paper (old school style) and your pen (remember those things?) and just sit quietly for a couple of minutes. Reflect on the things you want out of your life (emotions, dreams, financial aspirations, romantic despairs, physical needs) and start writing them down in columns labeled Physical, Financial, Physiological, Spiritual, and Emotional. You are responsible!

Search magazines for words and images that reflect your goals, cut them out, glue them on a board and put the board where you will be able to visualize your goals daily.

Positive Affirmations

We must see it to believe it right? We internalize things much more effectively if we have a visual, which is the reason image quotes are so popular online. It’s also the reason that visual affirmation is such an important tool in goal achievement. After all, Meryl Streep’s Devil Wears Prada character, didn’t get to be who she was by simply sitting in the back of her limo wondering if she was good enough, because affirmation was her daily mantra. So, here we go!

Write down a list of all of your positive attributes. Are you funny? Can you make someone smile? Are you genuine, a loyal friend, an adventurer, a strong willed person, a kind person? Are you a creative thinker or a hard working employee? Write it down.

Now pick three of those attributes to focus on. Write the words, “I AM “down on a sticky note, followed by an attribute. Put it on your mirror for daily positive reinforcement. (After all, who doesn’t get inspired by seeing words like “I AM BOSS” on a daily basis?)

Add an additional “I AM” attribute to your mirror every week without taking the others down. Soon you’ll have your own magic mirror telling you how amazing you are!

De-Clutter

This is perhaps one of my favorite transformation tips to share. De-cluttering your environment is one of the most liberating acts you can do. Anne Hathaway didn’t get to go to Paris Fashion Week because she was a mess in frumpy clothes and living with her boyfriend in a junkie apartment. No, she went because she pulled it together, de-cluttered her mind and put on her cleanly pressed little black dress from her newly organized closet. We simply think and feel better when our homes are clean, clothes hung up, shoes are matched and our junk, de-junkified! So let’s get started!

Grab a box of big black garbage bags, or paper bags

Go to each room in the house and start going through drawers and closets to find clothes and items that you haven’t worn or used in two years. (I suggest starting with your bedroom closet because your room is meant to be the place you come home to for relaxation, not more stress).

Pull out old magazines and books and put them in a bag to donate to the local library. Go through your junk drawer and get rid of dried up ink pens and random items. Go through your office and shred old receipts, letters and used up note pads. Go through your pantry and throw away any expired food. Do the same thing in your bathroom and make-up drawers.

Hang up clothes and color coordinate your closet for faster grab and go visuals. Buy organizers for your bathroom drawers and make up. Limit your magazine and book buying to two or three at a time and donate them before buying more to keep the pile low. Spend junk food money on fresh fruit. Have a space in your junk drawer for your keys so you find them quickly in the AM before you leave for work. Its small steps like these that can transform your life long term.

With an organized environment, goals and positive self-talk, you will have more time to focus on being healthier. When everything is in its place, you save time on the clock instead of wasting it trying to find things. This extra time might even allow you to make it to the gym or prepare your lunch (what?)!

These 3 tips lead to a more positive, confident, goal driven woman. A woman that is mentally healthier and physically more attractive, exuding poise and empowerment-two qualities that never go out of style. So chicks, if you want more kick-butt Devil Wears Prada Paris Fashion Week moments and less “OMG, I overslept, bedhead, wrinkled shirt” moments, than go for the wellness make-over from the inside out, and experience how these small changes, make a big impact on how you tackle that Uber ride in the morning!